Design 360° No.100 : Design Homogeneity

Are we making designs that look increasingly alike? This topic is very easy to trigger and discuss, for the discussion of the development of graphic design, is also a sharp enough entry point. In this topic, it involves the market, history, economy, social media, education, and other important factors that are closely related to the influence of graphic design. Through the discussion, these scenes can be linked one by one, to carry out a macro to micro, from the past to the present across the vertical and horizontal degrees of analysis. Design homogeneity may reflect the stagnancy in today’s graphic design scene. Through discussions on whether homogeneity is a “good” or “bad” thing, our focus is to open a gap that invites rethinking on the “content” and “form” of graphic design, on its meanings in the present reality, and on its value.

This issue of Design360° attempts to tackle the theme “Design Homogeneity” in multiple ways. It starts from a statistic report on Award360°’s winning design works during the past three years and continues into a round-table discussion that goes through the entire magazine. Here, 11 designers from different backgrounds and in different stages of their career generously share their insights on causes and impacts of design homogeneity. To match with their perspectives Design360° also invited experts and scholars to provide indepth analytic articles or interviews from perspectives such as social media, style trends, the Swiss Style, design education, etc.